location

You absolutely still have control over your own stuff, but now's a good time to check what you've been sharing
Google recently started making some photos that you've posted publicly to Google+ visible in Google Maps as well, as evidenced by the notification we all got in Google+. That's not in and of itself a bad thing, nor is it an invasion of privacy. In order for an image to appear...

Is Google following your phone everywhere it goes? Sure — but only if you let it.
Every now and again a story hits the blogosphere reporting how Google is automatically tracking your location on your Android phone (or your iPhone), and how you can see proof of this by visiting a certain website and viewing the minutiae of your daily movements.
So is Google really keeping tabs where you go...

Sometimes it's best to hide your location in Android
When you first set up your Android smartphone you'll be asked about location services, and whether you want the phone to use them. Google has its own services, and sometimes your carrier will have its own that you'll need to approve as well.
That's just part of the deal, though. There actually are a few other options for location services...

Popular location-tracking service Glympse is announcing a partnership today with Kik Messenger that will bring offer time-limited location sharing between friends. Now you can share your location or request that a friend share their location using Glympse straight from a Kik conversation, found right from inside the app.

Precise, time-limited location sharing in the app you already know
Working to expand its reach, Glympse today announced it will be partnering with Samsung to offer location sharing in the ChatON messaging service. Glympse, which is best known for its stand-alone location sharing service and app, has been making several partnerships as of late to offer a better location sharing experience to...

A move to deep colors and flat design
Foursquare has just undergone a pretty substantial interface refresh with the latest update. Today's change marks a move away from the "map" home screen view to a bigger focus on friends, suggested goings-on and check-ins. When first launching Foursquare you'll now notice a cleaner view with deeper colors and flatter styling that simply lists your friends...

One of the first popular phone-to-phone sharing apps is moving over to Google
In a short and sweet post on its official blog today, Bump Technologies announced that it has been acquired by Google, effective immediately. Although it may not have been in the news much lately, Bump was one of the original sharing apps that predated things like NFC and Android Beam. It uses a combination of...

Save battery life and improve location data for every app
We're live here at the Google I/O 2013 keynote, where Google has started off with talking about APIs for Android. As one of its first announcements, Google is rolling out three new APIs for developers to access the location of a device. First up is "Geofencing", which lets apps define virtual fences around areas to then do actions when...

Could Google use your location data to make you a better photographer? This patent application shows someone in Mountain View thinks so.
Google has filed for a patent that would adjust camera settings for optimal performance based on GPS coordinates and the current weather conditions. Depending on where you are, and what the weather might be like if it's determined that you're outdoors,...

Ingress has just been updated today to give users the ability to submit and update portal location information. For existing portals, players at those portals can now submit new photos that they feel better show the location. You can also now submit suggestions for improvements to the portal name, description or location information. For areas that users think would be good portal locations but...

With the last update to Foursquare we saw improvements to the usability of the "Check In" UI, and now it is improving the "Explore" tab to follow suit. When searching a location or type of establishment, you'll be greeted with a friendlier UI that shows off pictures and a preview of the place right in the results. If you tap into a specific place, you can now swipe through user-submitted photos...

If you've got a Jelly Bean device -- say a shiny new Nexus 4 -- and open up Google Now today, you'll likely be greeted with a notice about Google's location policy. The notice reminds users that Google does keep location history in order to serve location-relevant information (like traffic and walking stats), and prompts to be granted additional access to this data. This looks to be related to...

Starting this week, Verizon will be rolling out a targeted advertising system it is calling "Verizon Selects." The basic idea is that customers can opt-in (thankfully) to a system that lets Verizon collect and use "location, web browsing and mobile application usage data, as well as other information including customer demographic and interest data" to help target advertisements to you from...

Google Now continues to try and improve our daily lives one little step at a time, and the latest addition seems to be doing just that. Some users are reporting this card now appearing when they open up Google Now, which reports on the distances you walked and cycled in the last couple of months, with a comparison of the two. Pretty nifty, and while not quite at the same level as an actual...

Google's Niantic Labs have pushed out a new app called Field Trip, which simply pops up location-specific information cards as you wander or drive around town. It's vaguely Google Nowish in its predictions, and provides several channels of content, such as historic places and events, lifestyle, food and drink, cool and unique places, and plenty more. There's plenty of control over how many and...

The Foursquare app for Android has been updated to bring back an old feature called Nearby Friends. As you might expect, it showcases which of your friends have checked in nearby recently, and what they think about the locations you've been checking into. All you have to do is scroll all the way to the top of your news stream, and use that tab selection bar that pops up at the bottom.
Though it...

Sonar, a location-based social networking app for Android and iOS, has exited beta and is now available in Google Play for free.
Although Sonar plugs into Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Foursquare to keep tabs on your existing friends, it can also be used as a discovery tool to meet new people. Users can broadcast their presence to other local Sonar users, or go black if they want to stay off...

With back to school season around the corner, some parents may be getting antsy about having their young ‘uns out in the big wide world. Luckily, thanks to phones and stand-alone GPS units, mindful moms and dads can track the little buggers every moment of every day. Amber Alerts, the long-standing organization built with the express purpose of preventing child abduction, has launched their own...

Some Galaxy Nexus users who've recently updated their devices to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean have been experiencing issues with the phone's GPS capabilities. Specifically, some Gnex owners are unable to get a GPS fix, even with several satellites in view. It's a pretty nasty bug that, at worst, can leave you unable to track your location.
To check if you're affected, open up an app that constantly...

Launch the app, and it basically says it. It's an all-new Foursquare app. OK, maybe not all ​new. You're not going to be lost trying to check into your favorite coffee shop. But, yes, the app now has a much-needed makeover. Big tabs. Big photos. A cleaner look. Better mapping. Better discovery. It's just better.
Snag it at the download link below.
Download: Foursquare for Android; More:...

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